


The Silence

by cupcakekillian



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen (Mentioned) - Freeform, i love, i'm sorry for the pain, post 3x23, the beginning of the rise of iris west, westallen - Freeform, yeah so basically cisco and iris are barry's number one fans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 18:03:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11423253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupcakekillian/pseuds/cupcakekillian
Summary: "Barry Allen was her light, and she’d lost him."Set in the few hours after Barry Allen enters the Speed Force. Iris and Cisco share a moment. WestAllen.





	The Silence

**Author's Note:**

> basically this was born because of recent rumors that Iris would be a bit hardened by the time season 4 started, and I wanted to explore that change. and I love Cisco. This wasn't beta'd so I apologize.

It was quiet.

 

It had never been quiet before, not when he was around. Even before the particle accelerator explosion, he’d always emitted an energy that filled the room. It was like a quiet hum in the back of her skull that reminded her that he was there, that she wasn’t alone, that he loved her. No matter how far he’d gone from her before, she could always feel that hum, that spark of electricity, pulsating through her. It was a reminder that he’d always come home. She hadn’t even realized it was there until she didn’t have it anymore.

 

She hadn’t realized it was gone in the hours following him entering the Speed Force. Her father had quickly whisked her back to the loft, and the rest of Team Flash were not far behind. The flurry of activity that followed had distracted her from the silence; people asking her what she needed, if she wanted to eat something, if she wanted to lie down, if she wanted to change. It had been then that she’d remembered that she was still wearing clothes from HR’s funeral, and the irony had caused her to laugh. That had freaked everyone out.

 

She couldn’t figure out why everyone was gravitating towards her initially. It was as though all their attention was on making sure she was okay, and not on his departure. She then realized that they were treating her that way because she was basically his next of kin. They were treating her like a widow.

 

That realization had sent her spiraling, and suddenly she was yelling at everyone to get the hell out of her house. She couldn’t take them staring at her. It was almost an out of body experience, and was certainly uncharacteristic for her. Grief was funny like that. They had argued with her for a bit, telling her she shouldn’t be alone, but eventually they’d all departed. She wasn’t sure how many hours passed, only that the black sky was beginning to turn grey as the sun rose and she was alone and it was quiet.

 

And then the sound of crunching glass and a muffled shriek called her back to reality.

 

She knew who it was without even looking. She wasn’t entirely sure when he’d come back, she hadn’t heard the door, although she knew he had other means of entering spaces. Shutting her eyes, she sighed, “Stop cleaning.”

 

There was the sound of shuffling and more glass breaking and then she felt the couch dip next to her. She didn’t look over at him as he spoke. “Sorry, sorry. I just thought I’d get rid of some of the glass so you didn’t have to later. Do you need anything? Water? Chai latte? There’s like half an avocado in your fridge, but you know I’d probably avoid that it looks a little brown…”

 

“Cisco,” She shouted and her voice carried through the flat. “Stop.”

 

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Just trying to help. I want to make sure you’re good.”

 

Her voice came out with a bit more bite than she intended. “Why? For him?”

 

Cisco shrugged, not backing down at her anger. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t upset with him. “That’s part of it; he’d want me to look out for you.” He paused then, his voice growing soft. “But you’re also one of my closest friends Iris.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m fine,” she replied much too quickly.

 

Cisco studied her, brown eyes always seeing much more than she ever wanted them to. He was always so damn good at reading people and it had always annoyed the hell out of her. “You know you don’t have to be fine. I’m not.”

 

Something in those last two words caused something inside of her to break. There was a sincerity to his words, a finality to them, that let her know that this was all really happening. “Barry’s gone. He’s gone.” She had to say the words out loud to finally understand.

 

“We’re going to get him back Iris.”

 

She nearly smiled at how certain he sounded. Like it was an inevitable fact that the two of them would drag him out of there, the way they had last time. That was the thing about Cisco that she’d always loved the most; his unwavering optimism. No matter how dark the night, Cisco Ramon always knew the sun would rise again. Iris assumed that was one of the reasons Barry had taken to him so quickly in the beginning. When someone’s life had been tainted by so much sadness, they needed people who lifted them up. Cisco did that time and time again and for that Iris would always adore him.

 

If only she could share in that optimism.

 

She’d felt it as soon as the Speed Force closed, swallowing the man she loved whole and ripping away any future they had. She’d sensed it in the coldness that seemed to cling to her after he’d left. She’d known it in her inability to shed anymore tears. She wanted to cry, but nothing was coming. She had nothing left.

 

Barry Allen was her light, and she’d lost him.

 

That was the one truth she wasn’t quite ready to face, despite the way it threatened to smother her. She’d felt herself harden as soon as he was gone, felt walls shoot up around her breaking heart. She’d lost him before, but this was different. There was a sense of finality that only grew as the seconds ticked by. So she let herself embrace that sense of detachment. It was the only way to protect herself. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to.”

 

There was no accusation in Cisco’s voice when he asked, “So you’re just going to give up?”

 

Iris shook her head vehemently. That hadn’t been what she’d meant at all and she wanted him to know that. “No, no, I’ll never give up on Barry.” It was a simple fact of nature; her faith in him would never waver. “I know that eventually he’ll find his way home to me, to us. He always does. I just…” She cut herself off then, not sure how to continue.

 

“You just what?”

 

Iris blew out a steady breath. “He said that this was his chance at redemption. Going back into the Speed Force is the way that he’s meant to pay for Flashpoint.” She hated the Speed Force for everything it had taken from her. Sometimes she felt like it was picking on her what with how many times it’d taken those she’d loved. Given all of her interactions with it, she did feel like she had an understanding of the way it worked. When she’d pulled Barry out before, it had been because it had let her. None of them did anything without the approval of the Speed Force, and she needed to learn everything she could about it before they tried anything else.

 

And that’s exactly what she was going to do.

 

“So what do we do now?”

 

There was an uncertainty in his voice that made Iris really look at him. It wasn’t until then she really understood why he was there, why he was questioning her, why he looked so unsure of everything around them except for her.

 

Team Flash was missing their leader.

 

She could almost hear his voice then. It was distant and muffled, but she could hear him teasing her. _Well, Mrs. West-Allen, looks like you’re up to bat. Let’s see how well you can step into my shoes until I come home to you._

 

So Iris allowed her heart to harden, she felt herself close off, except for one small piece that would always stay open, hoping he’d return. They needed her now, her family needed her now, and they needed her to be strong and tough and resilient. There was no time to grieve, no time for tears to be shed. Everyone needed something to ground them, something to protect them. She would become what they needed; a point to gather around, a force to hold onto, an anchor in the storm. She dared not hope that maybe, just maybe, she could pull him back too.

 

Barry Allen had been lightning and Iris West would be a lightning rod.

 

She would do her best to make him proud. Just like she always did, just like she always would.

 

“We do what he told us to. We do what he would do. There’s still work to be done, so we run.”


End file.
